Jewelry holds an important place in history and continues to play an integral role in society today. The giving and receiving of precious metals, rare stones, and other forms of jewelry has been the universal sign of love, gratuity and loyalty. Rare stones such as rubies and emeralds can be cut and polished to accent the light that shines through the stones and may subsequently be mounted on a ring or worn as a pendant. Precious metals, such as gold and silver, can also be worn as rings and pendants but also have the additional characteristic of being able to be melted and poured into casts of many different shapes. These characteristics allow these metals to take on many different forms, thus giving jewelry making many more possibilities.
In general, three techniques are known for manufacturing such an article of jewelry: etching, stamping, and casting. Each of these techniques is useful in a particular situation. Casting, for example, can be accomplished in two stages: first, an impression or negative mold is formed by the prototyping machine; and, second, a positive cast or reproduction is made of the original wax object from the negative impression. The term negative refers to the hollow form or mold into which the liquefied casting material is poured. The term positive means the copy or reproduction resulting from filling the negative mold with the substances selected for the specific cast, which are then allowed to harden. Plaster or clay is frequently used for the negative mold, and gold or silver for the positive or final work.